Saturday, October 25, 2008

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes with Mascarpone Cream Frosting

Last weekend, my sister had a corn roast at her house. I suppose it’s a mid-west thing because my friends on the west coast had no idea what I was talking about when I told them about it. For her party, I wanted to do something festive but also something that is easy for the guests to grab. So of course, my first thought was cupcakes. My second thought was pumpkin. (Nah really??)
I have actually had this recipe sitting in my recipe folder for months. I copied it off the net somewhere and honestly…cannot remember WHERE I found it. I did make some changes because sometimes I am a non-conformist and insist on doing it my way.
For the frosting, I had to do some kind of cream cheese concoction because any spice cake in my opinion deserves it. But, I don’t really always like the intense ‘cream cheese’ taste in sweets. I had some left over Mascarpone cream cheese that I needed to use so I decided, that would be a nice mild alternative. And MAN was this frosting G-O-O-D!!!! This frosting is probably on my top LOVE list.
This Post is for you, Julie M!



PUMPKIN PIE CUPCAKES

Recipe:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp All Spice
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl sift together: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
2. In a separate bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add Sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Mix in eggs one at a time incorporating each (about 10 seconds in between).
4. Add pumpkin and vanilla.
5. Using the creaming method, alternate by adding a little bit of flour, then the buttermilk. End with the flour.
6. Fill liners 2/3 full, bake for about 17-22 minutes at 350 degrees or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Use an ice cream scoop, perfect portions every time!
Batter will be thick

Fresh from the oven
Mascarpone Cream Frosting
½ C. Butter, room temp
3 oz. Cream Cheese
¾ C. Mascarpone Cheese
2 1/2 - 3 Cups Powdered Sugar
2 t. Vanilla Extract
1 ½ Cups Whipping cream whipped or Cool Whip

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, beat butter until creamy.
2. Add Cream Cheese, and Mascarpone cheese, beat well. Add Vanilla Extract.
3. Add Powdered sugar and beat until frosting comes together. You can add more sugar if needed.
4. In a separate bowl whip cream or you can use cool whip.
5. Gently fold whipped topping into the frosting
6. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes
7. Sprinkle with clove and freshly grated nutmeg

2 comments:

Julie Martin said...

Fabulous!! Can't wait to make some of these yummy cupcakes. I owe you a recipe Courtney.
Julie M

Sweet as Coco said...

Thanks Julie! :)